A new study in Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice challenges conventional approaches to pastoral resilience in the Horn of Africa, arguing that sustainable livelihoods depend on recognizing pastoralists’ own high-reliability professionals and networks rather than external interventions.

Drawing on fieldwork across northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, researchers including Feinstein International Center’s Rahma Hassan and Elizabeth Stites identified how skilled community members—from water managers to market brokers—operate as critical infrastructure, continuously managing extreme variability and uncertainty. These professionals navigate crises through deliberation across diverse knowledge sources, flexible institutions, and dense social networks rooted in reciprocal solidarity.

The findings reveal five key principles: embracing uncertainty, enhancing local institutions, deploying diverse skills, mobilizing innovations, and fostering relational networks. Notably, high-reliability professionals often operate outside formal structures, yet command substantial community trust.

The authors propose fundamental shifts in external support: from implementing projects to facilitating existing systems, from standardized solutions to context-specific adaptation, and from expert-led intervention to convening diverse sources of knowledge.

Read the open-access article in Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice